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Donald Berwick Announces Run for Governor

Dr. Donald M. Berwick, a Chilmark summer resident and former Obama administration official, announced Monday that he will run for governor in 2014.

“I am ready to lead,” Dr. Berwick said in a widely publicized statement.

The pediatrician, former Harvard professor and one-time temporary administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, spoke on the Vineyard last summer at a forum on health care that included a screening of the documentary film Escape Fire.

Dr. Berwick promoted the idea of a holistic, wellness-based health care system. “Team-based care with a strong primary care base — that’s the hallmark of systems throughout the world, and we need to get there,” he said at the August forum. “I don’t think the designs are going to come from Washington . . . don’t hold your breath. What I’m excited about is what I’m starting to see in some states, including our own . . . I think it’s going to come down to communities, which is a bit romantic, but possible.”

Dr. Berwick and his wife Ann own a home in Chilmark. He joins a growing field of candidates on both party tickets, both declared and possible, for the 2014 gubernatorial race.

The announcement comes eight days before a sleepy special state election runoff between Edward Markey and Gabriel Gomez to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by John Kerry, and includes his endorsement of Mr. Markey. The Boston Globe remarked on the timing, calling it unusual.